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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29256651">New in Town</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenDollopHead/pseuds/QueenDollopHead'>QueenDollopHead</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Spirit Blessed [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Author takes some creative liberties with Yue's character, Blue Spirit Zuko (Avatar), Crimes &amp; Criminals, F/M, Gen, Vigilante AU, Vigilante Yue</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:22:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,350</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29256651</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenDollopHead/pseuds/QueenDollopHead</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Blue Spirit has been handling the crime in his city for years, but a new face brings word of a larger organization threatening to take over.</p><p>Yue's abilities come at a price.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sokka/Yue (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Spirit Blessed [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2149128</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>New in Town</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Blue Spirit is not very fond of traveling by roof, but he does what he must. In this section of the lower ring, it’s easier to see the upcoming twists and turns of the streets and alleys from the aerial perspective. From this vantage point, he can see where his current target is about to inadvertently box themselves in.</p><p> </p><p>One would think a band of known criminals would prepare their escape route more thoroughly, or at the very least anticipate the potential interference of the neighborhood’s vigilante. Their only good call was conducting their robbery under the cover of night, not that it’s currently helping them much.</p><p> </p><p>They turn the corner, and Blue Spirit takes his opportunity to drop into their only exit. He lands in a crouch, then immediately dives away from the incoming pellets. Unsurprisingly, they explode, causing a thick cloud of smoke to obscure his view of the thieves.</p><p> </p><p>By his count, they should only have 4 bullets left between the three of them. They seem to be aware of this, too, as they haven’t shot at him for the last 20 minutes of the chase. Unfortunately, he’s not sure which of them has the extra bullet.</p><p> </p><p>Even through the fog, he manages to trip one of the goons on their way past him. The thief hits the ground with a hearty thud; his buddies keep running. He sees the man raise his gun and quickly knocks the trajectory skyward by hitting against his wrist. The shot fires, but the gun falls limp in his hands as The Blue Spirit promptly knocks him out.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Three bullets. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He lifts the handgun from his grasp and takes off in the direction of the other two. He aims at the pavement, pulls the trigger, then tosses it aside when it doesn’t fire.</p><p> </p><p>He sees the two veer right, and darts in after them. As soon as he rounds the corner, he has to duck an incoming punch. The vigilante lands a kick to the assailant’s gut, pushing him back enough that he can see the second man just over his shoulder. Panicking, the thug in front of him pulls his gun and points it at him, but The Blue Spirit is faster, stepping in to pin his forearm under his shoulder. The weapon fires behind him.</p><p> </p><p><em> Two </em>.</p><p> </p><p>He drops the guy with an elbow to the face, then leaps over him as the final thug charges.</p><p> </p><p><em> These men are sloppy and careless </em>, he thinks as slides under the big guy.</p><p> </p><p>After all, he hadn’t even had to reach for his twin blades throughout the brief exchange. The current man seems to be all brawn and no brain. His footfalls are heavy, and he leads with his chest, so it’s easy to use his weight and moment against him. When he swings this time, the vigilante catches him by the arm, leans in with his shoulder, and pivots to throw the man over him and into the pavement. He groans in misery, and The Blue Spirit quickly punches him out. He swipes the firearm from the thug’s waistband and aims it at the brick wall to his right; fires twice.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> One. Ze– </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>The second bullet does it come.</p><p> </p><p>He hadn’t checked the previous firearm.</p><p> </p><p>Quickly, he turns back to the main street, still crouched but ready to spring away from the oncoming bullet.</p><p> </p><p>Instead, he hears a quiet ‘<em> Oof’ </em> as the man hits the ground. The first thug is deposited beside him.</p><p> </p><p>The Blue Spirit slowly rises to meet the gaze of the woman who, very clearly, just prevented him from taking a bullet. She unloads the clip from the handgun and brandishes the fourth and final bullet. “Close call.” She says with a smirk.</p><p> </p><p>Clad entirely in blue, the white-haired woman steals all of the moon’s light. Her radiant eyes shine, tanned skin smooth but unmistakably dry– she hasn’t broken a sweat.</p><p> </p><p>He knows in an instant that first, she’s a vigilante like he is– her custom fitted uniform tells him that much, and second that she’s new in town. He’s made it his personal business to know all the key players in his city, and surely there’s been no mention on any of his usual channels of this pseudo-goddess of a woman railroading crime.</p><p> </p><p>Oddly enough, she isn’t wearing a mask, which begs the question– who is she? Why doesn’t she conceal her identity?</p><p> </p><p>As if hearing his thoughts, she quirks an eyebrow at him, then flicks the bullet from her grasp. It instantly embeds itself into the brick next to her, as if fired from the chamber itself.</p><p> </p><p>This is no ordinary woman.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re The Blue Spirit,” she says. “Hope you don’t mind me stepping in on your turf,” she takes a step toward him, and the light seems to follow her. “I’m tailing a drug cartel that’s set it sights on Ba Sing Se.”</p><p> </p><p>He considers her. She certainly seems to find no enemy in him, but he doesn’t like that she knows more about him than he does about her. He gestures to her questioningly.</p><p> </p><p>She laughs. “I suppose I shouldn’t be offended that you don’t know me, I’m a long way from home.” She explains. “I’m Yue, but some media outlets have taken to calling me ‘Moonbeam’. A bit flowery, yeah?”</p><p> </p><p>The Blue Spirit can relate, even though he more or less chose his own name, donning a mask that was recognizable enough from <em> Love Amongst the Dragons </em>to adopt the persona. Still, he is struck by how cavalier she is about dropping her real name. Then again, he supposes she doesn’t have much to fear considering she apparently has inhuman strength.</p><p> </p><p>Perhaps she wants her presence known.</p><p> </p><p>“Anyways,” Yue says. “You should know that it was no coincidence I found you tonight.”</p><p> </p><p>He looks at the unconscious thugs. He knows their background well enough to be certain that they aren’t involved in any cartel business. Rather, their larger group is mostly a bunch of desperate individuals, turning against a government that failed them.</p><p> </p><p>Which means she was looking for <em> him </em>.</p><p> </p><p>Yue continues. “Things are going to get a bit messy around here.” She says. “The guys moving in are of a different breed. Ruthless, resourceful, meticulous.”</p><p> </p><p>She brushes her hair behind her ear, and although she makes no show of advertising it, he knows that she intends for him to see the ear comm. She’s not working alone.</p><p> </p><p>“They’ll set fires, murder a family in cold blood– there’s no limit to their carnage.” She says. “I know how you run things, and I suggest you steer clear of them.”</p><p> </p><p>He tenses, the implicit threat putting him back on guard.</p><p> </p><p>“‘<em>Mercy’ </em> is not in their vocabulary. Hesitation is not an option.” Yue explains. “They need to be put down, permanently.”</p><p> </p><p>He frowns. She must not operate under the same moral code that he holds himself to. Some lines aren’t worth crossing, but she evidently disagrees.</p><p> </p><p>“Too many people have died already,” Yue says. “You do good work here. Don’t get caught in the crossfire.”</p><p> </p><p>They both know that he won’t stay away, but he hears her warning loud and clear. She considers his life and purpose inconsequential to her own mission.</p><p> </p><p>She waves at him, and then suddenly the light encasing her brightens exponentially. He shields his eyes from the blinding light, and when the glow vanishes, he finds that she has, too.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The three thugs are now settled at the local police department for processing, and Zuko unmasks in the relative safety of his own apartment. He sets it down on his desk and immediately starts his research.</p><p> </p><p>It isn’t hard to find stories about Moonbeam. Once a northern princess, her family was slaughtered before her when she was still young. A group of servants had rescued her from the hostile takeover, hiding her away when the palace was seized. Those servants, too, had perished, and the princess seemingly disappeared for a number of years before emerging a fearless fighter.</p><p> </p><p>Opinions on her are mixed. The people from her homeland consider her their champion, they see her purpose as just and absolute. Outsiders brand her as an anti-hero, fixated on her cause and unconcerned of the collateral damage she leaves in her wake. Vengeance focused, perhaps, and callous from what she’s endured.</p><p> </p><p>All sources agree that she has been blessed by the spirits. She is known for being nearly impervious to damage, possessing massive strength and superior reflexes. In addition, many accounts reference an uncanny glow that surrounds her, especially at night.</p><p> </p><p>Some suggest she has even more abilities, but very few who have faced her down have been around long enough to tell the tale.</p><p> </p><p>He digs further into the Siege of the North, familiarizes himself with the known players, dead and alive. </p><p> </p><p>He maps the places where the cartel overlaps with the movement of the anarchists who killed Yue’s family.</p><p> </p><p>Apparently “drug cartel” was only a single strand of the operation she had mentioned in their meeting.</p><p> </p><p>Zuko groans. He’s no stranger to violence, he’s been wounded and brought back from the brink. He’s brought down murderers, sidelined crime families, exposed internal corruption.</p><p> </p><p>He’s lost, too. He’s been too late to save someone, more times than acceptable, despite their small number of instances. He has had to live with the faces he’s failed, read their obituaries, sent flowers to their family whenever there was one to be consoled.</p><p> </p><p>But the scale of what’s landed here makes his city, however broken, appear largely civilian.</p><p> </p><p>There’s a reason that a superhuman is trying to bring them down.</p><p> </p><p>He’d better stock up on medical supplies.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Well,” Yue says as she saunters through the doors. “That was a colossal waste of time.” She removes her ear piece and slips her arms out of her uniform. It bunches around her waist, a white sports bra keeping her modest, not that she really cares.</p><p> </p><p>Her partner spins in his chair, he smiles at her. “It was the right thing to do,” he assures. “We gave him a heads up about what’s coming.”</p><p> </p><p>She rolls her eyes. “He’s not going to stay away, you know,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” he sighs. “By the way, pretty rude of you to not introduce me.”</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Sokka </em>,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“Joking,” he grins. “Besides, if he hasn’t heard of <em> you </em>, there’s no reason to think he’s heard of me.” He turns back to the computer, typing away on his keyboard.</p><p> </p><p>Yue comes up behind him, leans over the back of the chair to wrap around him from behind. “Has he searched us yet?”</p><p> </p><p>Sokka nods, gesturing to an area on the map. “He’s got some decent firewalls, but not <em> nearly </em> as good as ours.” He says, puffing his chest. “I’d say he has a pretty good idea about who you are and what we’re up against. He’s been pretty thorough in his research.”</p><p> </p><p>She watches as Sokka stretches, then feels him wince beneath her. “Your leg bothering you again?” She asks, already knowing the answer. He sighs when Yue leans further against him to massage the afflicted area, applying sufficient pressure to ease the pain.</p><p> </p><p>It’s been years since Sokka’s been in uniform, since the fall that permanently sidelined him. Long enough that most of the world has forgotten Shadow Wolf and his part in her cause; perhaps presumed him dead.</p><p> </p><p>He groans when her hand starts moving up his thigh. “Let me help,” she offers. Sokka nods, shuddering as she breathes against his neck.</p><p> </p><p>They’ve been working together for over a decade, training since they escaped certain death at the palace as mere children. Sokka’s mother had helped them escape, and paid the price with her life.</p><p> </p><p>Yue’s tried for years to convince him to retire, to let her continue on alone, but he’s determined. Even if he wasn’t in love with her, he had sworn that he would honor his mother’s sacrifice and help Yue in her mission.</p><p> </p><p>But he’s a sheep in wolf’s clothing. She is still human enough to see that it hurts him whenever there is a loss of life, no matter how just.</p><p> </p><p>Her other hand slides up his chest, moving to cup his jaw and tilt his head toward her. They kiss; deeply, hotly. She hums as his fingers tangle in her hair, pulling her closer. She finds his growing arousal, and he gasps when she presses her palm against him.</p><p> </p><p>When they part, she sees the pain in his eyes. It’s not from his injury.</p><p> </p><p>He feels responsible for her. As if he hasn’t loved her deeply enough to move her. As if her heart was something he had to work <em> harder </em> to thaw, rather than something that no longer worked like his own.</p><p> </p><p>It’s hard for him to understand that it is the spirit’s power that makes her immovable. She hasn’t shed a tear in years, and though she still remembers fear and grief, its relevance fades further and further with each cycle of the seasons.</p><p> </p><p>Looking at him now, she doesn’t envy him. His love has brought suffering, and she simply doesn’t have that piece of her that he’s trying to save, trying to earn.</p><p> </p><p>This is all she can offer. She can honor his wishes as best as she can, warn a heroic civilian about the impending doom knocking down his front door.</p><p> </p><p>She can lay with him, give him comfort in the parts of her that remain human. She can protect him from further pain, if only the physical kind, and let him believe that there is an “after” to all of this.</p><p> </p><p>She’d stopped believing long ago; she’s told him as much, but Sokka wants to believe that this divine purpose is temporary.</p><p> </p><p>Yue suspects that his faith is waning too, but he swears he’ll never give up on her.</p><p> </p><p>Carefully, she swings a leg over his lap, leaning into him once more. She kisses him with fervor, the way a lover should.</p><p> </p><p>She can’t give him her heart, but she can give him this. And she can accept his.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading! Shout-out to my pals in the Zukka Discord for helping me brainstorm this idea after seeing this <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CHLPaSMAQ1v/">Yue artwork</a></p><p>Kudos and comments appreciated 😊</p></blockquote></div></div>
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